22 Nigerians Died during 2013 Hajj

Twenty two Nigerians died during this
year’s holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia,
the News Agenaji Uba
Mana, said this on Tuesday in a
telephone interview with our
correspondent.
Mana, who did not give the state-by-
state breakdown of the figure, said
majority of the victims died of natural
causes, and had been buried in Saudi
Arabia in accordance with Islamic rites.
He said the death toll was lower than
that of the previous years, due to
adequate medical arrangement provided
by the commission.
Mana also attributed the low casualty
rate to the awareness created by the
commission on personal hygiene and
the performance of a stress-free hajj.
NAN reports that 44 pilgrims died in
2011 and 36 pilgrims in 2012 out of the
over 95,000 pilgrims who performed the
hajj in each of the years.
Speaking on the transportation of
pilgrims back home, Mana said the
commission was able to complete the
exercise four days ahead of the Nov. 19
deadline given to it by the Saudi Arabia
authorities.